Wave Aid Weekend and other things

This'll be a long post so those not interested can stop reading now.

I'll start with Wave Aid Weekend.

On Friday Bron came over around 10:30am and then Ivan dropped us off at the airport. We barely had time to sit down before we had to board our flight, which went smoothly. We got to Sydney at around 2pm and caught the train to Leticia's work. We dropped off our bags at her work and went for a MASSIVE walk of the city. We did a few laps of the same blocks because we got a bit disorientated and then ended up walking down to Circular Quay and checking out the harbour bridge and opera house. We then went back to meet Teesh at her work and catched a cab back to her place in Waverton where we were staying, lounging around and chatting for a couple of hours. For dinner we walked to this restaurant called 2060, drank too much wine, then went for a walk up to Ball's Head lookout, which gave a stunning view of the harbour at nighttime. We eventually sauntered home exhausted at around midnight.

Bron's brother works night shift during vintage season but got the Friday night off, so drove to Sydney from the Hunter Valley to see her. He arrived at about 1am, so on the Saturday he took us to see Bron's grandmother who'd 94 and in a nursing home, and it was good for Bron to see her. That woman was hilarious. She's fully alert mentally but has 4 broken vertebrae and is in a lot of pain and I guess the frustration of not being able to walk but being fully aware of your situation made her a cranky old woman. She proceeded to tell us all how fat we were, how angry she was for being put in the nursing home 18 months ago, how horrible Phil looked for not shaving that day, and so on and so forth, but I thought it was hilarious.

Phil went back to the Hunter Valley later that afternoon and us girls went to the SCG for the Wave Aid concert. All of the bands were great, with the only disappointment being silverchair, who weren't horrible but not great. They sounded good, and Dan looked very buff, but their set wasn't that great and they ended with a whimper rather than a bang. The ones that surprised me were John Butler Trio and the Finn Brothers. I didn't know what to expect from them and they surprised me by being excellent live. And Midnight Oil were the perfect way to end the night, the crowd went wild and everyone was loving it. In between the bands the highlights were catching up with Dusta and also the entertainment provided by the guys on the cameras and the ones putting text up onto the big screen. With their sense of humour they somehow convinced a lot of people in the crowd (both male and female) to flash for the cameras. Quite funny.

On Sunday I was a little annoyed because we got up early to go to The Rocks but then found that Teesh had decided to take us to the markets instead. Bron and I didn't really go with a lot of spending money, so we may as well have slept in, but no matter. After the markets we went to this Chinese restaurant and had Yum Cha, which is something that I've not seen in Adelaide before. Basically all you do is sit at a table and lots of people come around with trolleys with all sorts of Chinese food and you take whatever and however much you want. It was overwhelming for me at first but my goodness it was great because Teesh picked all the yummy food for us. I even managed to convince her to try chicken feet, much to Bron's disgust, haha! We caught the train to the airport and were on our way home before we knew it. I then drove home and got back at around 8pm, and now I'm back at work today.

The only downside to Wave Aid Weekend is the sunburn. We had assigned seats so we were in the sun for about 4 hours, and despite applying sunscreen twice and trying to keep in the shade as much as possible without missing the bands, I am in HEAPS of pain. I can't wait to get home and throw on a sleeveless shirt, as this rubbing is killing me. I even cried from pain in the shower this morning. But hey, all worth it I suppose!

So, moving on from Wave Aid Weekend now!

Dad had his conciliation meeting at the Industrial Relations Commission today and I spoke to him earlier and he's very happy. The company came to the meeting with a printed letter agreeing to give Dad 12 weeks pay, all he had to do was sign. The Commissioner said he had never seen a company so blatantly admit they were wrong and offer something straight off the bat. The Commissioner also told the company they were very wrong in filming my Dad on those days off as he had been a loyal employee for 15 years, and said something to the effect of "Well geez, if someone asked me what I did 3 days ago I wouldn't remember every small detail either!" which Dad was really happy to hear. Dad's lawyer asked for 24 weeks pay, the company raised their offer to 15, Dad lowered his to 20, and then they couldn't come to an agreement. The Commissioner suggested 17.5 weeks pay, at which time the meeting adjourned and the settlement will be next Monday, but now it's just up to Dad's lawyer to work her magic. Because Dad was under a Federal agreement, if they don't come to an agreement now it would have to go to Federal Court, which can take years and cost Dad thousands of dollars, and he doesn't want to do that so he'll be happy to make a settlement. He still has 2 other Workcover cases to go against the company anyway, so I think he'll be happy to get this behind him. Hopefully now the settlement goes well!

Anyway, suppose I should get back to work now...

Jetsetting

This will be my last entry until after the weekend, which I probably didn't need to announce because I've been slack with the blog lately anyway and if I don't post for a few days it doesn't seem unusual anymore but anyway...

Yesterday was Australia Day (for those readers from overseas who mightn't have known, or any from Australia who were also unaware) which means a public holiday and therefore much rejoicing from me. I was supposed to have a BBQ with Bron and some of her hockey friends and listen to the JJJ Hottest 100 but instead, she was halfway to Adelaide for work (how rude) and it was about 40 degrees so bad bbq weather anyway. Because it was so stinking hot I did absolutely nothing. I woke up at 6am for who knows what reason and then my mind started racing and I just couldn't get back to sleep. So I got up, played some CS:Source online, washed my car before it got too hot, watched the cricket, listened to the Hottest 100, read some Harry Potter and occasionally ate something. What an exciting day!!!

So this week is a little out of whack because of a public holiday smack bang in the middle of it but I'm not complaining. Infact, I'm rejoicing because tomorrow Bron and I fly to Sydney for our Wave Aid Weekend! Can't wait! So I'm finishing work at around 4:30pm today, going home and doing the last dregs of packing, then I'm off to Adelaide for the night so I can get the flight out tomorrow.

So, packing... What a dilemma! The main problem lies with around a 10 degree difference in temperature between Adelaide and Sydney tomorrow. The reason this is a problem is because when Bron and I get to Sydney, we're going straight to her brother's girlfriend's workplace to drop off our bags and then hitting the city to do some sightseeing. This means there'll be no opportunity to get changed or even to wear a different pair of shoes, we've gotta dress for comfort really. Then on Saturday the concert runs until 10:30pm so we'll need something warm for the evening, and again, comfort is important. I'm also having difficulty finding a shirt to wear to the concert because my arms are just too damn fat for a tank top and I don't have any decent t-shirts to wear. Sucks being a girl... well, a lot of the time, especially when it comes to picking what to pack!! If only I wasn't so overweight... And again things lead back to my weight which I hate. I've lost 2.5Kgs over the last 3 weeks but it's not nearly enough, I wish it would come off quicker, but I'm gonna keep persisting.

ANYWAY, sorta took a crappy tangent there but generally I am ECSTATIC to be heading off tomorrow and can't wait :)

Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

So yesterday, I went to the doctor, and, as always happens, even though you've made an appointment you're left waiting. So, while waiting I picked up a magazine which had no doubt been there forever and started flicking through this Marie Claire. In it was an article that got me so pissed off, I wish I had written down notes about it so I could explain it all to you in better detail but here goes. I tried Googling it but that was pointless.

Ok, the title picture was a poster of The Matrix, and the article was about a 19 year old mentally unstable guy who shot both of his parents after "being obsessed about The Matrix". Yep, I'm sure that's why he killed them. Anyway, it might have been this false title page that convinced me to read on, and boy am I glad I did, because somewhere in there was a real story about this guy.

The guy was living with foster parents, where he had been since age 10. Both of his birth parents were prostitutes and drug addicts and he was removed from their custody by the state when he was very young. The article didn't say where he lived between the ages of about 2 and 10 though, but anyway, he had a crappy childhood, that part is clear. The kid wet his bed even at age 10 which apparently his foster mother used to beat him for because she thought that made him an idiot. So, the kid has deep seated problems which are ignored by his new parents. He only has a few friends, who describe him as always being a loner and always witnessing his parents berating him for not doing well enough in school. Oh, and then there's school. The guy had very thick glasses and was constantly bullied. He suffered from depression from not having friends, not having a girlfriend and feeling like he was in a prison when at home.

So I guess I don't quite see the logic of how The Matrix is blamed as the cause for him shooting his parents, when clearly there was more going on here. The article went on to talk about the "heavy metal" music he listened to and the "violent video games" he played. These were things apparently brought about by his lawyer, who thought his obsession about these material things might have effected his psyche. This was ruled out by several psychiatrists, but the writer of the article still felt the need to take this angle from the title page all the way through. It finally went on to say that psychiatrists did find though that he had mild schizophrenia, something they say should have been identified at age 10.

Hello?!? Am I the only one getting this? Geez, Marilyn Manson really was the voice of reason in Bowling for Columbine. All this kid needed was someone to actually listen. Clearly nobody ever did that.

Obviously murdering his parents was extreme but this isn't just black and white. Guess it's similar to the Columbine killings in a way because those guys just felt shat on by everyone and didn't get the help it was evident they needed early on. When will people learn, I wonder. It certainly won't happen unless people open their eyes and see what's happening right in front of them instead of trying to gloss over things and trying to find causes and blame in material possessions.

Poo bum dicky fart

I've just finished writing a blog for today and then Blogger decided to hiccup and lose it so I can't be bothered writing it all out again (I should really start saving drafts for these times). Here's a quick rundown:

No news on a start date for the job yet.
Weekend was great, pool party was fun.
Dad's case in a week, hope it goes well.
Ivan beat me in table tennis but it's the most exercise he's had for a while so bless him and curse him at the same time.
Touch football at 5pm, and it's 35 degrees. Clever.

Wow, I should make all my blogs this thorough hey? :)

It's official

I got the official phone call today - I got one of the Water Licensing Officer positions in Adelaide. This isn't that higher paying job, I won't know about that for a few more weeks, but I'm MEGA happy to be going back to Adelaide. Will miss some people up here but still, it'll be good to get back. Tomorrow I find out when they want me to start. Hope it's after Wave Aid!

A multitude of hoorahs!

I really should update this more than once a week, otherwise it gets to like today, where I have a lot to say and will probably forget something.

First off I would like to congratulate Michelle and Craig on the birth of their baby boy on January 11th. I saw them on Friday and Mum and baby are doing well :)

In other news I had the interview on Friday and it was ok. It wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't terrible either, so it was passable. Now we just wait and see again. It seems I'm forever waiting! I am hoping to hear about the other job today but am not sure whether they'll stick to their timeframe or not. My lease in Berri expires this weekend so I'm gonna have to let the landlord know my new Exit date soon enough.

After the interview on Friday I had the day off (that's when I went to the hospital to visit Michelle) so my sister and I used some of the time to go look for her wedding dress. She tried on about 4 or 5 and we found one that she looked so beautiful in so she bought it on the spot! It's all so exciting helping her plan her wedding :) So Friday poor Ivan had to listen to me going "I want a baby" and "I wanna have a wedding", hehehe!

Dad has received word of his first hearing, which will be on January 31st, so he has a few doctor's visits between now and then. I hope things go well for him, I hate seeing my parents so depressed and worried all the time.

On a personal note, I'm mega excited because next Friday Bron and I are flying to Sydney for Wave Aid! I haven't been to Sydney for 11 years but I absolutely LOVE it, and the concert has an incredible lineup! We'll be staying at her brother's girlfriend's house so we've saved a bit on Accomodation, and most of it is going on my credit card, god bless them (but the devil sends the bills). It's only for the weekend, but we're gonna try and squeeze sightseeing around the concert and it should be excellent :)

The weekend was a pretty quiet one, and since Friday was a bit busy I was glad. All we really did on Saturday was go out for dinner which was really nice, the rest of the time we stayed in and watched DVDs or played games. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a great movie by the way.

I think that's about it...

Time flies

It's been just over a year since I got a job with the Department, I can't believe how quickly things have gone. My lease is up for renewal, otherwise I have to move out in two weeks, and I don't think I'll find out about the first job I interviewed for until early next week (although my boss here is positive) so I have to see about extending my lease for a couple of weeks or something, until I know what's happening. Am a bit worried about this interview on Friday though!

The weekend came and went so quickly, and we hardly even did anything. All I did was go out briefly on Saturday morning for a little running around but aside from that Ivan and I stayed in and spent some time together. It was just what I needed after all the madness of Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Dad had his first meeting with the lawyers last week and is feeling very positive as a result. The lawyer believes he has enough to warrant 3 separate cases but the first they're starting with is the Unfair Dismissal case. So, the paperwork has been lodged, and now we just sit back and wait for a while until things start moving. It's put his mind at ease a little, although I think he is still a bit depressed, understandably.

Maria and Steve are starting to plan their wedding and it's so exciting! I love looking through all the stuff with her, and seeing her so happy makes it even better.

That's about it! Apart from my complaint for the day - ick, it's friggin' hot!

Back to work

Well after working in the Adelaide office for 4 weeks and then being on holidays for 2 weeks after that, I'm back working in Berri, having started again here on Tuesday. A few of us around the office are finding it hard to get back into the swing of things. So far this week, every day after lunch has been very slow with little production from most of us. The office was open over the holiday season but not everyone had the time off, but most of us did. And it's not like there isn't work for us to do, it's just that none of us can stay focussed.

Being back in Berri isn't too bad. My neighbours are still as annoying as ever, nothing has really changed. Along with starting work on Tuesday I also started up my exercise routine again. It was going so well last year until I started taking those tablets, then I couldn't sleep and I had no energy, so I fell out of the habit. So this year I'm making a commitment to it, and so far so good, but it hasn't even been a week yet.

As for the jobs in Adelaide, I haven't heard anything about the interview I went to a few weeks ago, but I think it went well as they've gone to the effort of calling my referees (they did that on Tuesday). As I was writing this I just got a phone call for an interview for another position I applied for. This one is one level higher and is a one year contract, but I think it'd be a great opportunity. The interview is next Friday, eek!

Anyway, I'd better go arrange a trip to Adelaide next Friday with the boss.

Have a great 2005!

This is my cousin John who died over New Year's a few years ago. I hope you all had a great New Year's celebration, and RIP John, we still think of you, miss you and love you!

Sheer laziness

I'm on holidays from work, I have no real reason for not updating my blog any sooner than now. There is no news on my Dad as yet, the lawyers go back to work next Tuesday, they'll be making contact at that time, and then we'll see what happens from there. He's really depressed, it makes me sad to see him like that, and yeah, that's about all I've got to say about that at the moment.

Christmas was quite nice actually. On Christmas Eve we went to my Grandma's house for dinner, and then went back to Mum and Dad's to exchange presents like we do every year, and got home around 12:30am. On Christmas Day we went to Ivan's parent's place and most of his Aunts and Uncles were there and we had a BBQ for lunch. It was a nice couple of days really!

Since then I haven't been doing anything too exciting. I've moved on from the hours upon hours of LOTR:ROTK and am now on hours upon hours of Matrix stuff. Only 4 DVDs to go, yay! Also in between I've been doing a little reading and catching up with some people I didn't get to see before Christmas. And getting a flat tyre, then replacing said flat tyre. That was fun :-/ Luckily it happened close to home and Ivan came to help, and just as well there were two of us because the wheel nuts were on so tight that I had to stand on one end of the thing to get them off while Ivan tried to turn it. Crazy.

That's been about it in a nutshell I guess. Like I said, very little has happened. We're spending New Year's Eve at home again this year with a couple of people coming around so nothing too over the top. Hope you all have a good one!

Merry Christmas? Hardly

Dad lost his job today. After at least 15 years working in the same factory he got sacked because he was off with a sore back for two days last week, had a certificate, but his work don't believe him because he went to his own GP and not the one from work. Unbelievable. An entitlement he has, which they can't prove he misused! Tomorrow he gets the official letter and I doubt very much that that's the reason they'll put in the letter, because they just can't do that. The week before Christmas. What horrible people. We don't really know what's going to happen now, as it only happened a few hours ago, but at 54 Dad's gonna find it tough to get another job. Especially if this gives him a bad name. I still can't quite believe it, just needed to vent, sorry :-/

Meh, I can't think of a title

Yes, things here are still a little crazy and so I haven't been able to do my regular daily updates again. I'm still working here in Adelaide and after the relatively busy days the nights have been busy too, with Christmas BBQs, dinners and general get-togethers to go to. And occasionally, I like to have some time to myself so have been reading or watching hours upon hours of The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Extended Edition stuff. I also bought the 10-disc Matrix thing and haven't had a chance to watch any of that.

But only 2 more days of work and then I have 2 weeks of holidays, yay! Granted, in between those holidays there'll be Christmas and New Years so it won't exactly be a relaxed holiday with all the people I'd like to see during that time, but some time off work is always good :)

Speaking of work, this morning I had a job interview for a Licensing Officer position back here in the big smoke. The interview went okay, there always seems to be one question that stumps me and this was no exception, but the other questions I felt confident about so here's hoping. I think they're planning to tell people before Christmas although that's a tight timeframe as interviews started today and are going until next Wednesday, but yeah, hopefully we hear sooner rather than later. On top of that I've also just applied for another position here in Adelaide, one that's a level higher than what I'm on now but it's only a one-year contract. So, yeah, been busily writing that in my spare time too.

Hmm, lots of stuff has been happening. My sister is engaged to Steve, and we're all wrapped because unlike her ex, this guy is a keeper and treats her like a princess. So she's mega mega happy as you could imagine.

Last Friday the Berri office had its Christmas party so I went back to Berri last weekend and went along to that. It was at the Bonneyview Winery in Barmera and I had a great time. They had karaoke but no one from our group was mad enough to get up there, but the Australia Post crew had their dinner on the same night so they got up and sang Return to Sender which was quite funny :) Also the Barmera Christmas Pageant was on so we got to see some free fireworks.

Last night I went to the Christmas BBQ for the SA Herpetology Group (that's reptiles and amphibians by the way) so that was great because I haven't seen those people for a year. And it confirmed the fact I still want to get a gecko. On Thursday Ivan and I are gonna have dinner at Steve's place with him and Maria which will be good, because we haven't seen his place yet and she's probably moving in there soon. So tonight I have to do my Christmas shopping because I really don't want to leave it until next week! I have 6 or 7 people left to buy for, ugh. Damn expensive holiday, but I must admit, I like giving people gifts at Christmas so it's my own fault :)

Anyway there isn't too much left to the workday and although I'm sure I've forgotten something here, I'd better wrap this up. 2 more days, then holidays, yay!

Things you miss

When you've lived in the city for all your life and you move to a regional town, there are bound to be things you miss. Most would say they miss the night life, and perhaps if I was younger I'd be inclined to agree, because I've outgrown nightclubs these days and I've been to the pub for drinks with friends more in Berri than I did in Adelaide. I miss certain stores though.

Don't get me wrong, the town I live in isn't tiny even if there are no traffic lights (the drive to work is mega mega easy and fast), but it is lacking in certain stores. This becomes very noticeable around special occasions such as Christmas. Here in Adelaide, I work across from Rundle Mall, and can easily walk over there during my lunch break or after work and buy some things. In Berri, there's the Riverland Plaza which has maybe two or three decent stores and so it's really limiting.

One major downside to Berri is not having anywhere decent to go for lunch. Yes, there are sandwich shops but they are, and this is being kind, sub-standard. Here in Adelaide there are Food Courts as far as the eye can see and if you can't find a decent sandwich somewhere then you are, indeed, an idiot.

Books. There are no bookstores in Berri, and for someone who loves reading this can be a problem. The only place to buy books are Newsagents where they are quite expensive. If it weren't for the book club we have at work, where we can buy books for less than half price, I'd be lost. Mind you, I overdose on the cheap books. That's why I have a bedside table about to topple over because of the books waiting to be read.

And finally (for now), Haigh's chocolates. When you pay $6 for a block of chocolate you can bet your ass it's gonna be the best chocolate you've ever tasted, and Haigh's is undoubtadly my favourite chocolate ever. Many years ago when my sister and I would come into the city it would be a treat for us to buy some Haigh's choccies. I would always buy a block of their dark chocolate because dark chocolate is my favourite and Haigh's dark chocolate ROCKS! So, it's almost three weeks since I've been here and I hadn't bought any Haigh's yet... until today. I couldn't resist, walking past the store at lunch time and not going in for The Best Chocolate In The World seemed criminal. I know, I complain about my weight but screw it. It's Haigh's Chocolates, who are you to resist it?

Berri isn't a terrible place, there are for worse places to live, but I really do love Adelaide.

Blog neglect

Wow, things just got majorly crazy here since I last wrote and this is the first chance I've had to sit down and do an update. Sorry, Blog readers!

In fact, my last blog seems so long ago I'm having trouble remembering exactly what I've been doing so I guess I'll just rattle off some things. A couple of days after my last entry I believe, I did something to my back again and took a couple of days off work. Normally days off work are great because I get to catch up on gaming or something but it hurt to sit at the computer so I did little but lie down both of those days.

A couple of weekends have been and gone, and I can't remember what I've been doing except that Saturday just passed Mum took me clothes shopping as my Christmas present which was heaps good. I got 4 tops for work that are summery, 2 skirts, 1 pair of pants, 1 pair of shorts (although I'm now wondering why), 4 pairs of shoes (ok, so I have a shoe problem), a new handbag (it's pink!) and a purse to match. Oh, and I got this necklace, ring and earring set free from Rockman's for spending so much money there, hehehe. I really needed some decent summer clothes for work, I was feeling very blah and it's been pretty damn hot in the last week.

So, apart from that, I guess the thing that springs to mind is that I haven't been in Berri for a week and looks like I'll be in the Adelaide office up until my Christmas holidays. They asked me to come and work down here to help with this new system, to get all the metering data sorted as that's pretty much my role in Berri, so I have been mega busy since I got here, hence the little time to write. I'm heaps happy to have been asked to help them out, and am hoping it's a mini-test to see how I'll go for this job I've applied for back here, but I shouldn't get too excited, I might not even get an interview for that yet.

It's been great to spend all this time with Ivan again but it's a little awkward, not knowing exactly how long I'm down here and all, because half of my stuff is in Berri and half of it is down here. But I won't complain, because this is where I want to be.

The Adelaide staff are all very friendly, although I'm getting mixed vibes from a couple of the girls here, I don't think they like me. Not that they've done anything, it's just that feeling a person gets. But it's ok, because you get people like that everywhere. Although people here are really nice I'm just not sure I fit in back here. All the girls are very beautiful (men must love working here) and I just feel like a fatso. Ah well.

Anyway it's almost time for me to go and catch the train back home, so I'd better go finish up on a couple of things. Sorry for not updating this sooner, I've really just been frazzled.

Hope you all are well.

News flash

I'm about to go down and do a heap of filing (800 individual files) so thought I'd do a morning blog before I head downstairs into the abyss.

Last night was the final ever Sex And The City and I'm really going to miss it! I suppose I'll have to just stick with re-runs and watching old episodes on DVD but it's just not the same. But I have to admit, I felt a little empty watching the ending. So many people wanted Carrie to end up with Big but I didn't, the guy was a jerk, and the only time I felt any emotion in the episode was when she saw her friends again. I guess it always happens when a show's been around so long and you expect too much from the big finale, but yeah.

On the weekend Ivan and I watched a couple of movies - The Incredibles and Team America. Both of them were very funny for very different reasons. The puppet love scene in Team America was one of the funniest things I have ever seen, although it makes you shake your head and go "oh geez..." :)

So, as you can tell, this update was merely to waste time, because I'm really not keen on all this filing but it's inevitable after the big mailout last week :(

End of a dry spell

I can't believe it's been a week since I updated, it's been a while since I've been so slack. Thing is, I have several reasons for not updating:
1) I had a massive mailout to do at work, which takes up a lot of time.
2) I had to get that job application done and sent and geez those things are hard to write.
3) Nothing interesting has been happening and this blog has been mega-boring.
4) Anything that has happened would probably not interest the one or two readers I have left.
5) Like I said above, I have lost a lot of readers so the inspiration to write about stuff is gone.
6) I presume I've lost readership, I can only presume because people aren't commenting (note the use of emotional blackmail).

That's all I have for the list really.

So, yeah, work has been a bit busier and I had to get my job application sent off. Aside from that Mum, Maria and Grandma got back from QLD, I was in Adelaide on the weekend, there were more family dramas, the usual really. The weekend was quiet, I'm preparing myself for the Christmas rush of catching up with people and spending too much money by doing as little as possible on these weekends. The weather has also sucked so I'm not motivated to leave the house.

I saw the video from Linda's wedding on the weekend and it was quite a nice ceremony. They ended up having it inside because it rained but everyone looked really nice and happy. The thing is though, they played my most favourite song ever for when she was walking down the aisle - Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley. I'm guessing they only chose this song for the title because if they'd listened to the words they'd see it's not a happy song at all (I've blogged about this before). My interpretation of the song is it is about the death of love, and I don't mean the death of a loved one but the death of love itself, love dying in a relationship, etc. So, them walking down the aisle to it was an insult to me because they picked my favourite song but seemed to have no idea what the song was about! Anyway, apart from that, the ceremony was nice. And I'm allowed to have a rant, even if I'm being silly and selfish, ok? :P

Oops-a-daisy

Well I did absolutely no writing on Friday or over the entire weekend so my novel is pretty much dead and I've discovered I'm a terrible National Novel Writing Month participant. Ah well, there's always next year :)

So the weekend was absolutely freezing and all my plans were thrown into disarray. On Saturday night Dad and I were going to go to Speedway City to watch some Sprintcar Racing but we decided to cancel that because not only was it cold but it was raining and the race most likely would have been cancelled. Plus it's no fun freezing your ass off at a racetrack. During the day on Saturday I was going to go to a BBQ at Belair National Park, where after the BBQ the Friends of Belair were having their monthly meeting. I had planned to go since I haven't gotten to a meeting in about a year, and knew that the BBQ was under cover and the meeting was in this hall. But when I got to Dad's on Friday and he suggested we go out for lunch somewhere, I figured I'd rather be warmer than at some BBQ in wintery conditions.

So, Friday night was the usual quiet, catching up on TV shows I'd missed day. On Saturday we had a sleep-in and then Ivan and I met up with Dad at Best Mix, this Chinese restaurant on Anzac Highway and had a yummy lunch. We got home around 1:30pm and then Ivan basically said the rest of the day was up to me, as a thankyou of sorts for the amount of travelling I do and stuff. It was a lovely thought but it was too cold to do anything, so I preferred a day inside in front of the computer. Hehe, geekiness wins!! We were going to go out for dinner but I wanted Fasta Pasta, and the closest one was too far away in the cold (hahaha I was so lazy on the weekend), so we went to Captain Chicken and got yummy yummy takeaway. Sunday was a lazy day again (although it usually is), I just went and saw Dad on my way back to Berri and that was about it.

Does anyone remember the shows Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High? Well I absolutely loved them and seeing as they've not been released on DVDs, and probably never will, when I saw them online I just HAD to get them. So Ivan put them onto discs for me and I watched a few episodes last night before bed. That was about it!

Work is still boring, but what's new :)

An update for the sake of it

I truly have not a thing to say but I am so bored at the moment so I thought I may as well blog and infect the internet with my boredom. We've been told we can start using the database so have to sort out this backlog of work and see what the best order to do things in is. But even that hasn't gone to plan, because it's 2pm, I'll be going home to pack in an hour and a half, and I still haven't been given the jobs I was supposed to be given because the boss isn't ready yet.

You'd think I'd be happy, because it would give me time to write but I've been putting it off and haven't even written a single word of my novel today. I set myself a goal of 2200 words today. Fat chance!

So yeah, a really boring day. It's so windy, cold and wet outside, it would have been a perfect day to sleep or read in bed. Ah well :)

Bear with me

When things are bothering me I sometimes turn to this blog to let those feelings out, because I think of this sometimes as a personal diary, even though other people read it. So if you're one of those "friends" (and I use the term loosely, you know who you are) who can't handle that sometimes I get upset about things (and it's not always about you) then now is the time to stop reading.

So, basically, my dad is a real asshole sometimes. Today Mum, Maria and Grandma all leave for QLD so I spoke to them last night on the phone to wish them a safe trip, as you do. As soon as Mum got on the phone I could tell there was something wrong, and when I asked what it was she just started crying. She couldn't talk, because Dad was there still swearing at her in the background, but basically he was drunk again and treating her like shit, again. I called her this morning, after he'd left for work, and that was pretty much the gist of it.

You know, as close as I am to my father, I really hate him sometimes. He's had a drinking problem since we were frigging kids (oh yeah, some great childhood memories thanks to Dad) and I wonder when the hell he plans to take any responsibility and act like a grown man for fuck's sake. Excuse the swearing but clearly I'm upset. He goes through these phases where even though he drinks daily, most days he won't drink so much to the point of getting drunk, he'll just have some alcohol with dinner and stuff. But then he gets these bad patches.

This is one of those bad patches. On the last few occasions I've seen him he's been drunk. Sometimes I'll feel guilty for getting angry at him. Like, I'll think to myself 'oh, well he's on holidays from work, he can indulge himself', or 'it's the Footy Grand Final, he's allowed a few beers', and so on, making excuses for his behaviour. Well, I'm tired of making fucking excuses. It's not normal to drink that fucking much. And what's worse is he's a real prick when he's drunk so Mum cops so many arguments.

I know, I'm 25 years old, you'd think I'd have learned to deal with this by now, but why the hell should I learn to deal with this? He's a grown man, he has a steady job, a loving wife, two daughters who do ok for themselves, what gets him so frigging stressed out that he needs to drink every fucking day and night?!? GROW UP! Putting your children through this sort of thing is just not warranted. Kids should not have to yell at their dad, console their mother, or cry their childhood away because of their parent. Enough is fucking enough!

Countless (and I do mean countless) events that are supposed to be happy were ruined by him, and it's still going on! Rather than Mum be excited about a week holiday in QLD with her sister and other family members, she got to cry herself to sleep last night. Good work Dad. Last year my birthday was a fucking write-off. Good work Dad.

And then he'll realise, when something happens, that he needs to change his behaviour. The number of times I've heard him say "I've been drinking too much lately, that's going to change", and I try and take some hope with that, and then a week (and I'm being generous, I was originally gonna say 2 days) later he's back at it again. So many broken promises. Now that Mum and Maria are away and he'll be at home by himself he'll probably be worse, even though I'm going to try and call and see him as much as I can. I shouldn't have to be sitting at home, wondering if he's ok!

***

Anyway now that I've vented a little bit, I do have some more normal news today. The jobs in Adelaide have finally been advertised. There are three of them and they close in two weeks, so I have to get my Resume in order and send off an application and cross my fingers.

My book is stuck. I'm supposed to somehow write 1850 words today if I want to stay on target but my mind is a mess and I can't focus, so methinks this will be another failed project. Oh well, I'll try but I just don't think I can get into it today.

That's about it, time for lunch now. Oh, and blah at half the American voters, but enough people are writing about that.

Hmph, hurry up

Remember that show, Mr Squiggle? Well, imagine the above title spoken in the voice of Blackboard.

Anyway, so this day is dragging. I was trying to hold off blogging until the results of the US election were in but my goodness, that could take ages. I was hoping to do a celebratory dance around my blog, but it's not yet been confirmed who the winner is, and if it's Bush, then I sure as hell won't be dancing around my blog, or anywhere for that matter. I went home for lunch so I could watch the broadcast and get an idea, but after the debarcle in 2000 no station wants to make any early predictions so almost all the states at that stage were at the "we don't have enough data" stage.

Apart from what's been going on overseas, my mind is all mush at the moment! I've been sitting here at work, working on my novel because there is nothing else to do. I was hoping to get to 5000 words today but I'm strapped for ideas again, and with my mind now being mush I won't be achieving much. And I still have two hours of sitting here to do, joy!

So, anyone that's been watching Survivor will know that last night they voted the last decent looking guy off the island, dammit. No eye candy for us girls now!

Hmm, what else can I prattle on about to kill some time?

Oh, I despise the show but I've been playing this Law and Order game on the computer in the last couple of days and it's really good! It's pretty cool to look for clues and interview witnesses. I have a long way to go before I have a case to take before the courtroom though, so that will probably keep me busy in the next few evenings.

I really need to try and get to sleep a little earlier though. Moving the clocks forwards an hour on the weekend has stuffed my body clock up a bit, and it's only an hour! How pathetic, hehehe.

Oh! What the heck is up with spam? It's bad enough we get emails selling us stuff we don't need, now my comments are starting to be infiltrated! I was going through some blog entries from a couple of months ago earlier becaise I am SO BORED and was reading comments people had left, and then all of a sudden there's these random spam comments by some random internet bot thing!!! They were all from different IPs so there was no point IP blocking, so I just deleted the comments and thought "Piss off, spam bots!!!". Sheesh, is nowhere safe?!?

Dammit, this only took up 5 minutes. Oh well, I suppose I should try and reach this 5000 word target. Or browse the internet. Or fall asleep at my desk. I have a lot of options at the moment.